Pneumatic piano-player.



No. 805,347. PATENTEI) NOV. 21, 1905. E. N. DIGKERSON.

PNEUMATIC PIANO PLAYER.

APPLIOATIOH FILED DEG.17.1902.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

INVENTOR ldwardwzb/fwwf4 ATTORNEY WITNESSES.

5M 0 9 1 L 2 V O N D E T N E T A P N 0 S R B K G I D N H 4 r 5 0 no 0 N PNEUMATIC PIANO PLAYER.

APPLICATION FILED DIEIO.17,1E)O2.

@- ATTORNEY WITNESSES:

N O S R B K G I D N H PNEUMATIC PIANO PLAYER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 17. 1902.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

EEEEF o UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PNEUMATIC PIANO-PLAYER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Not. 21, 1905.

Application filed December 17, 1902. Serial No. 135,554.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD N. DIOKERSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Stovall, in the county-of Granville and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Piano- Players, of which the following is a description.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of devices, such as the pianola, which operate the keys of a piano or similar instrument by means of pneumatically-moved keys.

My invention relates to that class of such piano-players in which certain notes are struck with a greater force than other notes. As a rule the theme or melody is confined toone or two octaves, the other notes serving as an accompaniment.

The object of my invention is to divide the keyboard into sections and to operate each one of these sections, preferably octaves, by mechanism capable of giving a varying loudness to that octave or section, as desired. I also provide that such sections may be either manually or automatically controlled.

My invention will be readily understood from the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a front view of such piano-player with the casing removed; Fig.

'2, a section through Fig. 4 on the line 2 2;

Fig. 3, a section through Fig. 4 on the line 3 3; Fig. 4, a section through Fig. 1 on the line 4: 1; Fig. 5, a plan view of my trackerboard; Fig. 6, a view of an independent valve for throwing the full vacuum on the entire keyboard, and Fig. 7 a view of my improved music-sheet.

My drawings as a whole represent the ordinary automatic piano-playing action, which will be readily understood by those skilled in the art and which I do not, therefore, describe in full detail. The main vacuum-bellows 1 causes a high vacuum in the vacuum-chamber 2. The low vacuum exists in the controllingbellows 6, the pressure being determined by the regulating-valve 7 in the usual way. The regulated vacuum 6 affects the playing-pneumatics 7 8 and the bellows 9 in the usual way through tracker-board perforations 10. The wind-chest 3 is divided into sections-as, for instance, octaves-by partitions 4, as shown, and each section is independently controlled by pneumatically-operated valves 5. This valve determines whether the low vacuum existing in chamber 12 shall affect the pneumatics or the high vacuum in chamber 2. As shown, the low vacuum is connected through passage 13, the valve being in its normal position. It is obvious, however, that it the valve 5 be drawn forward the passage 13 will be closed and the high-vacuum chamber 2 be put into communication with the operative pneumatics by way of passage 2. Such valve. or any one of them, is controlled by its bellows 14: through an ordinary series of pneumatics 15. When the chamber 16 is thrown into communication with the atmosphere, the bellows 14: is closed, thereby throwing the high vacuum under the operative bellows 9, causing a harder stroke of the hammer on the instrument.

The operation of this pneumatic is the ordinary operation in which the vacuum in chamber 16, normally existing through the leakageaperture is destroyed, and the air-pressure thereupon raises the valve 17, throwing the vacuum from chamber 18 into the bellows. This vacuum is normally maintained through pipe 19. The pipe 20 may be thrown into communication either with the atmosphere or vacuum in two wayseither through the valves 21, presently to be described, or the main controlling-valve22. The valve 22 consists ofasliding strip or bar arranged to reciprocate in a casing 22*, divided into compartments 22 by partitions 22, which are adapted to communicate with the atmosphere by ports 22 The valve is provided with ports 22, one for each compartment 22 so arranged that when the valve is moved in one direction the ports 22 will register with the ports 22 and place the chamber 16 in communication with the atmosphere through the pipes 20. When the valve is moved in the opposite direction, it will beobvious that the ports 22 and 22 will be thrown out of register and the chamber 16 will be cut off from communication with the atmosphere. This valve 22, which is shown in detail in Fig. 6, will simultaneously release the vacuum in all the chambers 16. Such valve is controlled through manual lever 23 and connections, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. In the normal position of that valve, as shown in Fig. 6, the vacuum exists through the connectingpipes 24 and chamber 16. This vacuum may be independently destroyed in each of the chambers 16 either by means of the musicsheet or manually through keys 25. These keys 25 by operating the valves 21 connect pipes 20 with the atmosphere. thereby destroying the vacuum and causing the increased impact on the strikers, or such vacuum may be destroyed by openings in the music-sheet through the tracker-board throwing one of the pipes 26 into communication with the atmosphere. This may be done through the supplemental openings 27 27 on the musicsheet, of which siX rows are arranged, three on each edge of the music-sheet. It is obvious that during the time of the depression of the controlling-key 25 or during the connection of the corresponding opening in the music-sheetwith the tracker-board the vacuum in the corresponding pipe 20 will be destroyed and that one of the controlled octaves or sections will strike forte. If it is desired to operate manually alone and not through the control of the music-sheets, slides 27 may be moved over the six tracker-holes 11, thereby throwing out of operation the automatic control of the supplemental apparatus, or, if desired, either the bass or treble notes can be manually operated, leaving the other notes of the scale to be automatically controlled, while if it is desired to throw the high vacuum at once on all the divisions of the windchest the movement of the lever 23 at once accomplishes this. The other levers shown in Fig. lsuch as the piano-lever 28, the tempolever 29, and the reroll-lever 30operate in the well-known way, and my addition in no way interferes with the ordinary function of the apparatus.

It is obvious that by the arrangement shown the instrument can not only receive the improved music-sheet, but also can be operated with the usual music-sheet and in the ordinary manner; but it also has the additional capacity of controlling individual notes, as previously explained. Though the additional series of openings in the tracker-board are shown for convenience somewhat separated from the ordinary music-openings, this is, of course, not essential and is preferably not employed, as it unnecessarily widens the music-sheet.

IVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an automatic pneumatic piano-player, a divided wind-chest having divisions separating it into three or more compartments and pneumatic mechanism including a single valve for connecting each of such compartments at will with either of two degrees of vacuum, substantially as described.

2. In an automatic pneumatic piano-player, a divided wind-chest having divisions separating it into three or more compartments, and mechanism including a single valve for automatically connecting each of said sections with different degrees of vacuum according to the control of the music-sheet, substantially as described.

3. In an automatic pneumatic piano-player, a divided wind-chest having divisions separating it into three or more compartments and mechanism including a single valve for connecting each of said sections with varying degrees of vacuum, either through the operation of the music-sheet or manually at the will of the operator, substantially as described.

4?. In an automatic pneumatic piano-player, adivided wind-chest having divisions separating it into three or more compartments, and mechanism for changing automatically the degree of vacuum in one or more of said chambers by the operation of the music-sheet and mechanism for manually throwing high vacuum on all of said chambers, substantially as described.

5. In an automatic piano-player, the divided wind-chest 3, having three or more divisions, a single controlling-valve for connecting each of said divisions of the wind-chest with different degrees of vacuum, the pneumatics 15 for automatically controlling the valves 5 and the supplemental tracker-board openings 11 for controlling the pneumatics 15, substantially as described.

6. In an automatic pneumatic piano-player, the divided wind-chest 3, having three or more divisions, a single controlling-valve for connecting each of said divisions of the windchest with different degrees of vacuum, the pneumatics 15 for automatically controlling the valves 5 and the supplemental trackerboard openings 11 for controlling pneumatics 15 and the manual valves 25 for also controlling the pneumatics 15, substantially as described.

7. In an automatic piano-player, thedivided wind-chest, 3, having three or more divisions, pneumatic mechanism including a valve 5 for connecting each of said divisions with either of two degrees of vacuum, the pneumatics 15 for automatically controlling the valves 5 and the supplemental tracker-board openings for controlling pneumatics 15 and mechanism for throwing out of connection the tracker-board openings 1] at will, substantially as described.

8. In an automatic pneumatic piano-player, a divided wind-chest having divisions separating it into compartments corresponding to the octaves on the piano, and pneumatic mechanism including a single valve for connecting each of said compartments with either of two degrees of vacuum, substantially as described.

9. In an automatic piano-player, a divided wind-chest having divisions separating it into three or more compartments, and pneumatic mechanism including a single valve for con necting each of said compartments at will with either of two degrees of vacuum, and manually-operable and automatic means for operating said valves, substantially as described.

10. In an automatic piano-player, a divided wind-chest having divisions separating it into In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of tWo subscribing Witnesses.

E. N. DICKERSON.

Witnesses:

GEO. W. J AEKEL, JOHN G. NELSON. 

